Why We Love Serial Killers

by Scott Bonn

  Serial Killers Allow Us to Play Armchair Detective

  Offering another perspective on the public’s fascination with serial killers, Dave Carbone, a highly decorated former NYPD homicide detective, told me that “the why is the wow” when it comes to serial murder. The “why” he refers to is the motivation of an unknown subject. Carbone explained to me that the most interesting aspect of being a homicide detective for him was trying to understand the motivations of an unknown killer. The tremendous popularity of the CSI franchise and Criminal Minds on television indicates that much of the public feels the same way. He confessed to being captivated by the thrill of the hunt in his work. Detective Carbone believes that the public experiences similar thrills vicariously by playing armchair detective while following crime stories in the news. “People love to see if they can figure out the motive of the killer and determine whodunit,” said Carbone when asked why so many people become obsessed with high-profile serial murder stories in the news media. Carbone explained that identifying the motivations of an unknown serial killer provides an exciting crime puzzle to solve for professionals and non-professionals alike.

  Serial Killers Are Ghoulish, Good Fun

  Lastly, serial killers are a source of leisure-time entertainment for millions of people because they offer thrilling escapism. In many ways, we have seen a rise of serial killer mania in the US since the 1970s. Dr. Harold Schechter, an award-winning true crime author of books such as Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America’s First Serial Killer (H. H. Holmes), explained that “serial killer mania is an American version of a universal human fascination with gruesome, grizzly, macabre crime.” Dr. Schechter further explained that serial killers offer an escape from the tedium of everyday life. He said, “Most of us lead very controlled, responsible, circumscribed lives. We follow the rules, so on and so forth, but we do have other aspects of ourselves that need a little madness. Serial killers provide that.” Veteran crime reporter Jeff Kamen offered similar insights when I asked him to describe the appeal of serial killers to the public. He said, “Serial killers are scary entertainment. The stuff of grim fantasy come to ugly reality and while frightening the public, true tales of serial killers also divert people from the desperately mundane and boring, from the demanding and unnerving, from the awful, unrelenting banality of life.”

  I believe that serial killers are for adults what monster movies are for children—that is, scary fun. Many self-proclaimed serial killer fans have told me exactly that during my research for this book. For example, a former student of mine said, “I love serial killers now the same way I loved monsters as a kid. I secretly want the monster to win.” Roy Hazelwood concurred with this perspective when he said, “You ask me why people like serial killers. For the same reason they like monster movies. They love to be scared. It’s fun.” Jeff Kamen says that the reason people like to follow serial killer stories in the news is the same reason they like to watch horror movies. Kamen explains the similar appeal of serial killers and horror movies as such:

  They both scare the hell out of us but in a controlled setting. The key is we don’t get harmed. Actual real-life horror is always out of our direct control which is why some people literally are scared to death by the shock of real-life horror happening to them such as a home invasion robbery, a rape, a mugging.

  Kamen’s observation that horror is pleasurable to people when it is presented in a controlled setting is powerful and it helps to explain the allure of serial killer stories to the general public. As long as serial killers are safely confined to the news and entertainment media, they are just scary fun.

  Offering additional insights into how people deal with fear, Dr. Harold Schechter explained that some people like to collect the artifacts of murderers, including their personal items and mementos, as a way to manage their anxieties. In the documentary film Collectors he said, “Some people are afflicted with a lot of fears and this [collecting] is a way of confronting the fears directly and exerting some kind of control over them.” Dr. Schechter noted that a few years ago people were fanatically collecting limited-edition serial killer trading cards. The hobby became highly controversial and received a lot of negative press. He said that many people thought it would “glorify serial killers.” Dr. Schechter believes that the controversy was misguided and overblown by the media. He also explained the curious appeal of the trading cards to their collectors:

  One of the impulses underlying that is an effort to have these frightening things lined up in some kind of orderly way and put in a box . . . It’s a way of managing anxieties . . . You’re turning it into a kind of game . . . you’re turning it into a play thing. It gives you control over fear.

  Schechter’s comments reveal that some of the public’s fascination with serial killers is connected to its own fear and need to control it. Consistent with this perspective, my research suggests that experiencing horror in a safe environment is appealing and serves an important purpose for many people. Specifically, one may have a cathartic experience by facing horror safely in a controlled setting such as a haunted house. Scary entertainment relieves you of your fear because you are never really in danger. I believe that items such as serial killer trading cards allow the public to exercise its fears by getting close to the fire, so to speak, without getting burned.

  Conclusion

  In this chapter, we have explored how key agents, including law enforcement authorities, the media, actual serial killers, and the public, contribute to the social construction of serial killers and their ghoulish celebrity status in society. We have seen that the words “evil” and “monster” are frequently used by the police, journalists, and even serial killers themselves to define or explain behavior that otherwise defies our comprehension. The use of supernatural words and cartoonish imagery in the news and entertainment media obscures the truth about serial homicide and transforms real-life predators into popular entertainment commodities. Serial killers are so extreme in their brutality and so seemingly unnatural in their behavior that society is riveted by them. Many people are morbidly drawn to the violence of serial killers because they both cannot comprehend it and feel compelled to. We have also seen that the public’s fascination with serial killers is quite complex, seemingly insatiable, and rooted in one of the most basic of human emotions—fear.

  CHAPTER 11

  COLLECTORS OF MURDERABILIA AND THE SON OF SAM LAWS

  Many people in our society develop a fascination with serial killers and become die-hard fans of the shocking tales told about them in the news and entertainment media. Some of these ardent fans take their interest and zeal to extreme ends. This chapter offers a journey into the curious and compulsive world of serial killer aficionados who collect murder artifacts or “murderabilia”—that is, original artwork and memorabilia (including clothing, personal possessions, and weapons) of serial killers. These collectors contribute significantly to the social construction of serial killers as larger-than-life celebrity monsters.

  In addition, this chapter examines a legal topic that is directly related to the murderabilia business. It involves the so-called Son of Sam laws which are designed to prevent convicted felons from benefiting financially from their celebrity status. More specifically, these laws seek to take any money that incarcerated criminals and ex-cons earn from expressive works about their crimes and give it to their victims or the family members of their victims. Supporters of these laws claim they help crime victims and prevent criminals from profiting from their misdeeds. Opponents counter that the laws infringe on fundamental First Amendment principles.

  Serial Killer Groupies

  There are people who become obsessive in their fascination with serial killers. Some of these people become serial killer followers or groupies. Incredibly, there are even groupies who become the lovers or spouses of infamous predators. For example, Richard Ramirez (the Night Stalker) married an obsessed journalist and groupie, Doreen Lioy, in 1996 while he was awaiting execution in California. L
ioy vowed to commit suicide the day Ramirez was executed, but he died, instead, of liver failure while still on death row in 2013. Former FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood commented to me on Lioy’s extreme behavior:

  There are some people (mostly females, but also males) who are fascinated by corresponding or meeting with serial offenders. Here I am referring to individuals who correspond not to learn but to [develop a] relationship. Some women even “fall in love” with these men, believing them to be misunderstood. Such people, in my opinion, generally have low self-esteem. By interacting with serial killers, they fulfill their own need for attention.

  Roy Hazelwood further explained that in certain rare instances a groupie wants to experience the crimes of the killer vicariously through him. Hazelwood told me that he has seen this phenomenon predominantly among female groupies of male killers. The groupie’s obsession leads her to contact the perpetrator of the crimes in prison. Her goal is to establish a relationship with the criminal in order to learn intimate details about the crimes that no one else knows. According to Hazelwood, this makes the groupie feel special and gives her a vicarious thrill—as if she took part in the crimes. He noted that in very rare instances such as Gerald and Charlene Gallego, a killer’s spouse will participate in his crimes. Hazelwood said, “I interviewed four women who participated with their husbands in the murder of others. Every one of them admitted to being afraid of the killer and yet aroused by the acts.” Similar feelings of excitement, fear, and euphoria are often expressed by members of the public when describing their own fascination with serial killers, as explained in chapter 10.

  Richard Ramirez, wearing sunglasses, turns to look at his admirers in the courtroom. (photo credit: Associated Press)

  The Marketability of Serial Killers

  The public seems to have an insatiable appetite for the sensationalized atrocity tales of serial killers. Since the 1970s there has been a growing consumer market for serial killer–themed content and merchandise. There are literally tens of millions of consumers in the US and around the world who are willing to spend their hard-earned money on serial killer movies, TV shows, books, food, games, and songs. For example, author Stieg Larsson’s The Millennium Trilogy (based on the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) has sold more than seventy-five million copies worldwide. The success of recent television series such as The Killing, Hannibal, The Following, and Bates Motel, not to mention Dexter, demonstrate that stories with serial killer storylines have great appeal to the public. Simply put, serial killers are hot items in the popular culture.

  Fascination with serial killers is an American pastime that has spurred the profitable but highly controversial murderabilia business. Incredibly, some people are so smitten with serial killers that they are willing to purchase their personal artifacts, mementos, and original works of art. With regard to original artwork, imprisoned killers have time on their hands and some have turned to painting as a way to express themselves, explore their creativity, and even make money (although this has legal restrictions that are discussed later in this chapter). People on the outside serve as the prisoners’ sales agents. Given the popularity of auction sites on the Internet such as eBay, it is not difficult for incarcerated murderers to attract enthusiastic buyers to their artwork and other merchandise.

  Can you imagine wanting to own an article of clothing once worn by Ted Bundy or an original oil painting by the late John Wayne Gacy? For people who want such things, there are a number of outlets where they can be purchased. For example, there are several Internet websites dedicated to the sale of murderabilia that generate significant traffic among curious fans. These websites offer personal artifacts from virtually every notorious killer imaginable. On one of the most popular sites, MurderAuction.com, the starting bid for a lock of Charles Manson’s hair is $2,500, the starting bid for a “skull clown” painting by John Wayne Gacy is $2,999, and for a painting by Gacy of his alter-ego “Pogo the clown” it is $19,999. In addition to top sellers like Manson and Gacy, collectors can purchase items from other infamous serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and Joel Rifkin. The objects range from personal items such as letters, artwork, and clothing to manufactured items such as action figures, trading cards, and comic books. If one is perhaps looking for a bargain, the starting bid on MurderAuction.com for a small bag of backyard burial ground dirt from the boarding house of serial killer Dorothea Puente is $25.

  An image of serial killer Aileen Wuronos is seen on the side of a hot sauce bottle at The Last Resort bar in Port Orange, Florida. Decades after Wuornos was arrested at The Last Resort, the curious still come to the place where she had her last drink. (photo credit: Associated Press)

  The Macabre Appeal of Murderabilia to Collectors

  Exactly what leads a person to collect artifacts from notorious killers? Several prominent sellers of murderabilia who are avid collectors of the items themselves have weighed in on this question. One of these individuals is Eric Gein, who owns and operates SerialKillersInk.net—a leading website that sells murderabilia—from his home in Jacksonville, Florida. His adopted last name is an homage to psychotic 1950s multiple murderer and body snatcher Ed Gein. (Recently, however, Eric has been using the last name Holler.) In an interview with ABC News Gein said, “I started writing guys [in prison] in the mid-nineties. I wanted to get inside their minds and see what made them tick, see what they did and why they did it.” Along the way, Gein discovered that he was not alone in his curiosity with the macabre. He said there are many people who have a fascination with “going to the source” and “actually holding something that an infamous monster has created or owned.”

  Providing support for Gein’s argument, Dr. Harold Schechter believes that peoples’ interest in collecting murderabilia can be traced in part to the supernatural or magical appeal of serial killers themselves. He argues that some people collect things once touched or owned by a serial killer because they believe the items have a “talisman effect.” That is, they believe that items once held by the likes of Bundy or Gacy are endowed with magical powers. They further believe that they can tap into such powers by possessing an item once owned by an infamous killer. The talisman effect is thus based on a presumption that a person who possesses an item once touched by a serial killer is protected by it. Dr. Schechter notes that there are buyers for everything from legendary gangster John Dillinger’s blood to the Volkswagen Beetle once owned by Ted Bundy. The magical appeal or “talisman effect” of murderabilia is related to my argument that serial killers produce a powerful visceral reaction in people. For them, purchasing an item of murderabilia provides an adrenaline rush similar to that produced by roller coasters and natural disasters.

  At his online auction site SerialKillersInk.net, Gein claims to have a diverse customer base that includes private collectors of the bizarre and macabre—similar to those who collect Nazi memorabilia—that is, university professors who use the items as teaching tools, true crime enthusiasts, college students looking for unusual dorm room decorations, and even US military personnel. He believes that the items he sells have real historical value. “It’s a dark history but it is part of our history,” Gein told the Huffington Post.111 “Why not have these items, study these items, preserve these items for future generations? Maybe one day find out why [serial killers] do what they do,” he added.

  Similar to Gein, entrepreneurs Rick Staton and Tobias Allen, who organize art auctions for the paintings of serial killers such as John Wayne Gacy and Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr., became dealers after first collecting the artwork and artifacts of serial killers. Allen also attained notoriety and harsh criticism in the 1990s for creating a controversial serial killer board game that was eventually banned in Canada. Staton and Allen were profiled in the critically acclaimed 2000 documentary film Collectors about the murderabilia industry. When asked during an interview for the film why he and many others are fascinated with serial killers, Allen said, “It’s a real interest, a real desire, to know what separates them from us, y
ou know. What kind of person can do that over and over, repeatedly, and takes joy from hurting people and watching people suffer and playing God, I guess.” Allen calls his fascination with serial killer murderabilia an “obsession that has gone way beyond hobby.”

  Rick Staton, who is a funeral director by profession, said that he became bored with his career and discovered that collecting murderabilia helped him to deal with the “mediocrity of it all.” He said, “My interest in serial killers probably stems from my love of movie monsters during the 1950s when I was a kid.” This seems to be a popular and consistent pattern among serial killer fans. As discussed in chapter 10, serial killers are for adults what movie monsters are for children—scary fun. Staton also contends that his “fascination with death is more normal than abnormal” and he believes that many people “fantasize about violence and murder but will not act on their fantasies, while some people—serial killers—are sick enough to do it.”

  Tobias Allen claims that the late John Wayne Gacy ranks first among all serial killers in terms of the number of inquiries he receives from fans and collectors about artifacts. Perhaps due to fate, Staton and Allen were introduced to one another by the “Killer Clown” himself. Staton was already the exclusive dealer of Gacy’s artwork by the time he met Allen. Staton had developed a relationship with Gacy while the killer was painting on death row. Gacy asked Staton to become his exclusive art dealer prior to his execution. Allen confirmed that people from all around the world contact Staton to inquire, “Where can I get an original Gacy painting? How can I get a Gacy?” One avid Gacy collector told Staton that the late serial killer’s artwork is “an important part of history and his choice of colors also match the colors in my home.” The appeal of serial killer artwork is clearly personal and highly subjective.